SAN ANTONIO – Jerry Idrogo, a San Antonio native, has been arrested in Toledo, Ohio, in connection with the murder of Balcones Heights police Officer Julian Pesina.
The 33-year-old suspect was taken into custody without incident just after midnight on Friday morning.
A report from the Toledo Police Department stated that officers found Idrogo outside a home with his hands up.
San Antonio police had been investigating Pesina's murder since he was gunned down outside his tattoo parlor in the middle of the night on May 4.
But San Antonio police Chief William McManus said the arrest is the result of teamwork involving a number of different agencies both here and in Ohio.
"The Bexar County Sheriff's Office, FBI, Toledo Police Department," McManus said. "Without each one of them, or without any one of them, this arrest probably would not have gone down the way it had."
In a news conference Friday morning, McManus hesitated to reveal too many details about the case, saying he did not want to compromise the ongoing investigation.
He said detectives are still looking into the possibility that there may have been a second suspect.
Investigators still do not know the exact motive for the murder, he said.
"It's been assumed all along, or thought all along, that it's gang related. I won't confirm that," McManus said.
Balcones Heights' police Chief Henry Dominguez later was fired amid claims that he failed to take action after other officers told him they suspected Pesina had ties to gangs.
A written complaint that was filed on May 20 actually detailed conversations that those officers had with Dominguez, raising the issue. It stated that Dominguez never addressed their concerns but that "the chief admitted, however, that the ‘pretty boy' officers in the department raised concerns about Officer Pesina's tattoos being 'gang-like.'"
The complaint also states that the chief did not feel the concerns were specific enough to warrant an investigation, and that he thought the officers were unjustifiably picking on Pesina's appearance.
McManus said he did not know whether Idrogo had any gang ties, but records do show he does have a long criminal history.
Idrogo has been arrested multiple times in Bexar County on charges that include vehicle burglary, theft and burglary.
Police in Ohio arrested Idrogo on a homicide charge. However, McManus said he likely will face a charge of capital murder once he is extradited and brought back to San Antonio.
Idrogo appeared in court in Ohio Friday afternoon, where he waived extradition. A judge there ordered Texas officials to come get him within 10 days.
He is being held without bond.
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(Below is the mugshot of Jerry Idrogo courtesy of ABC affiliate WTVG in Toledo, Ohio.)